Gebrselassie may skip marathon

Concerns about Beijing’s pollution have dominated preparations for the Games, and the effectiveness of measures to combat the smog remains to be seen. That it will be extremely hot is already a given. “He has a bit of a lung condition as well,” Hermens said, referring to Gebrselassie’s pollen allergy. “So, all in all, is it worth it?”

Hermens’ management team also looked into the hottest marathon races over the past 20 years and found that many of the top finishers never truly recovered for the rest of their careers, something which scares the 34-year-old Gebrselassie.

“What he says is: ‘Great if I win, but if it means the end of my career then I really don’t feel like it,”’ Hermens said in a telephone interview. “He is convinced he still has a real chance” to win the marathon at the 2012 London Olympics.

What Hermens fears most is a heat stroke, which can leave lasting damage on an athlete. The 10,000 meters is less punishing, and Gebrselassie will likely try to qualify for the strong Ethiopian team at the shorter event. After winning the 10,000 at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2000 Sydney Games, he finished only fifth in Athens in 2004 in a race won by teammate Kenenisa Bekele.

The marathon has a special aura in Ethiopia since barefoot runner Abebe Bikila won the 1960 Rome marathon and repeated the feat, with shoes, in Tokyo four years later. “Of course, it is a dream for him as an Ethiopian to become a marathon champion after Bikila, but he can still do it in London, too,” Hermens said.

Apart from his Olympic gold medals, Gebrselassie has four 10,000 world championship titles and has broken two dozen world records. Gebrselassie smashed the marathon world record last September with a time of 2 hours, 4 minutes, 26 seconds in Berlin, and ran the second fastest time ever last Friday (2:04:53) when he won the Dubai race.

Those conditions will not compare to those in Beijing, though. International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has repeatedly said that some competitions might be postponed if the Beijing air is too polluted. Chinese authorities plan to shut down factories and yank cars off Beijing’s streets during the Olympics. Beijing’s coal-burning factories, power plants and vehicles regularly spew enough fumes to shroud the city in a brown, pungent haze. Residents have grown used to the soot that coats their clothes. Some even wear surgical masks when walking outdoors.